Eizenstat to head Jewish policy institute

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Stuart Eizenstat has been named the new chairman of the board of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute.

Eizenstat, a former top official in both the Carter and Clinton administrations, replaces Dennis Ross, who resigned earlier this year to take a job in the Obama administration. The JPPI is an independent think tank dedicated to strategic thinking and policy planning for the future of the Jewish people and the relationship between Israel and Diaspora communities.

In addition, the State Department announced that Eizenstat would head the U.S. delegation to the Prague Holocaust Era Assets Conference later this month.

The June 26-30 Prague conference is a follow-up to the 1998 Holocaust Era Assets Conference in Washington, which Eizenstat organized and led while serving as deputy secretary of the treasury and undersecretary of state for economic affairs under President Clinton.

A State Department statement said the conference will focus on "immovable (real) property, Nazi-looted art, Holocaust education and remembrance,archival access, and the recovery of Judaica. In addition, there will be a session on the social welfare needs of survivors of Nazi persecution."

Representatives of 49 countries and nearly two dozen NGOs have been invited to attend the gathering.